When you first go vegan, you’re going to want to try a lot of recipes; you’ll soon find out that you may be missing a few vegan kitchen essentials.
Read on to find out which essentials should be in your vegan kitchen, and what types of recipes you can look to create with each.
Tofu press
Tofu presses work by (literally) pressing the excess water out of a block of tofu.
They’re great for meals such as tofish (tofu fish) or vegan chick’n, as the tofu’s texture that comes from pressing out the excess water is worth the extra prep.
Doing so also helps with retention of the seasonings you add, improving the overall flavour.
Do I need a tofu press?
If you want to get rid of the excess water in tofu, you can even do it with your hands.
A tofu press is perfect for draining, whilst keeping the tofu’s structure in place. Of course, for certain meals like tofu scramble, it doesn’t really matter as you can crumble that up nicely.
Blender
With a vegan diet comes experimental recipes, like creamy vegan pastas, and new dips and sauces to try.
A blender comes in handy in this case, perfect for smoothies, hummus and even soups; a lot can be done with a good blender, and can be a new vegan’s best friend.
Food processor
A food processor is the step above a blender to do, well, what a blender can’t do. Food processors are ideal for more complex meals that need a different type of “blend” per se.
You’d find a food processor handy for recipes such as fritters, this falafel recipe and these date & cacao bars.
Juicer
This does exactly what it says on the tin, perfect for juicing fruits, veggies and fresh herbs. For the raw vegans, you can freely juice to your heart’s desire.
Juicers are great compared to blenders that essentially turn fruit into puree. For instance, if you ever try fresh homemade ginger juice, you’d much rather take your chances in a blender, trust me!
Rice cooker
Not an essential for me personally, but a great tool for the vegan that’s suddenly cooking a lot more rice!
Once I first went vegan I naturally tried more types of rice, from black rice, to brown, wholegrain, sushi and even red rice.
These all came with different cooking times, a problem which a rice cooker would’ve got rid of completely.
Air fryer
For the perfect falafels, vegan popcorn bites, and onion bhajis, without deep-frying. I know right? An air fryer is something I was once skeptical about, then I realised I was just making excuses, and had to make the adult decision.
We’re in the future. An air fryer is yet another essential vegan tool that’s surprisingly affordable considering the money saved once you get yours.
Dehydrator
Another essential vegan tool for the raw vegan’s kitchen. A dehydrator is perfect for homemade dried fruit, to activate your nuts and seeds, and for raw vegan recipes that cook under 40 degrees.
You can get cheap ones and more high-end ones that give you more space and have more options, but in general the cheap and cheerful ones go a long way.
Do I need a dehydrator?
If you’ve like to make dried fruit or any type raw vegan cooking, you’d be better off with a dehydrator rather than an oven. Although an oven can be turned down to its lowest setting, not all ovens go low enough and simply aren’t specialised for that purpose like dehydrators are.
Spiraliser
Another one for the raw vegans, and even the wheat-sensitive vegans reading this. Another infamous raw vegan recipe being zoodles, you can’t really make the “oodle” from the Zucchini without one.
Good thing is they’re fairly cheap, and easy to source.
Peeler
Much like with any normal kitchen, another essential for the vegan kitchen is a good peeler. Be it for potatoes, or for your veggies, a good peeler is priceless. They come fairly cheap, for the basic ones.
Mason jars
When I first went vegan I started stocking up my cupboards with dried food from even before the coronation times. I also discovered interesting shops that allowed me to shop by weight, these tending to be vegan friendly, I started bringing my own jars.
When you’re building your kitchen and collection of teas, grains and pastas, it helps to be organised, making a decent major jar collection another essential.
Knife set
Different knives for different veggies, or fruits, or vegan meats. Much like a regular kitchen, you need some good knife sets still.
Measuring cups and spoons
For the budding vegan baker trying to get the perfect balance for their banana bread, measuring cups and spoons are essential for getting the perfect quantities.
Sometimes you just gotta follow the recipe, no going wrong with the right tools.
Scales
When you have a recipe that calls for weight as opposed to cups, that’s why you keep your scales handy.
These don’t need to be expensive, just make sure you get one that’s built to last!
Hand mixers and whisks
For those who have ever tried, a fork really doesn’t measure up to a whisk when mixing. And for the more seasoned pros, we all know that a whisk doesn’t measure up to a hand mixer.
Make sure you get one of each if you plan to expand your baking game, you will definitely need them!
Chopping board
The great thing about vegan food is that it doesn’t leave behind salmonella when you cut it, like meat does. When you first go vegan make sure you get a new, fresh chopping board.
It’ll help with the overall transition with that extra bit of dedication.
Skillets & pots
Get yourself a proper set of saucepans (small, medium and large) and skillets for your sautéed dishes.
Vegan essentials for those who want to be handy in the kitchen.
Baking trays & oven dishes
When I first vegan I started baking, a lot. But not the unhealthy cakes and stuff, baked potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, I ate a lot more of – As it was something I already knew.
A good range of baking trays is essential for your vegan kitchen, especially for meals such as baked mac and cheeze, vegan lasagne and our roasted wedges.
Colander & Metal sieve
Though they may not seem like essentials, these are for sure extremely useful for the vegan kitchen. A metal sieve is perfect for rinsing out your quinoa and perfect for getting rid of lumps you find in flour.
A colander is perfect for draining off that fresh al dente pasta in your saucepan before it goes mushy. Everyone needs one of each.
Essential kitchen tools for vegans
Hope you found some useful kitchen tools you can get for your own vegan kitchen.
If you liked this or even have any other suggestions, feel free to save this for later, share with a friend and drop a comment!
